DALLAS — Men's Health Magazine, one of many publications notorious for their lists of lists, published theAngriest Places in America2 in their March 2011 issue. I was thumbing through the magazine in an airport this weekend and was surprised -- OK, upset! -- to find that Dallas ranked the 7th most ticked-off city in the country.
Let's look at the top 10:
- 100 Detroit, MI
- 99 Baltimore, MD
- 98 St. Petersburg, FL
- 97 Las Vegas, NV
- 96 Newark, NJ
- 95 Charleston, WV
- 94 Dallas, TX
- 93 Houston, TX
- 92 Philadelphia, PA
- 91 Miami, FL
Detroit, we get why they're pissed. Las Vegas? Must've surveyed some folks whose bets went sour. But what about gorgeous Charleston, West Virginia? Couldn't Houston at least have ranked a little bit higher than Dallas?
The survey was calculated by "the number of aggravated assaults per capita (FBI), the number of people with high blood pressure (CDC), the amount of time spent in traffic during rush hour (Texas Transportation Institute), and the number of anger-management specialists per capita (American Psychological Association)," the magazine says, while my blood is boiling.
Now let's look at the 10 least angry cities in America:
- 10 Anchorage, AK
- 9 Reno, NV
- 8 Wichita, KS
- 7 Cheyenne, WY
- 6 Salt Lake City, UT
- 5 Madison, WI
- 4 Colorado Springs, CO
- 3 Fargo, ND
- 2 Lincoln, NE
- 1 Burlington, VT
Common theme: Residents are less angry in cities where there's nothing to do. I'll take Dallas any day.